Ipswich made an emphatic start to their 2011/12 Npower Championship season on the afternoon of Saturday 6th August 2011, as they defeated Bristol City away 3-0 courtesy of a brace of goals from debutant Michael Chopra.
Home fans at Ashton Gate saw Bristol City come away with nought after a reasonable performance, which, on opening day, does not auger well for the next few months.
Chopra opened the scoring on 13 minutes, giving Town an eventual 1-0 lead at half time, before Martin (51) doubled the lead early in the second phase. Nine minutes later and the win was secured when Chopra, signed from Cardiff City over the summer, added his second goal of the game on 60 minutes.
Despite the scoreline, this was a closer match than outside appearances might show: the difference today was simply Ipswich’s superior class in front of goal, as, other than that, there was, in truth, little between these sides who shared almost identical possession stats and shot counts.
Bristol City will also be disappointed with the manner of the goals they gave away – the third in particular came following a back-pass to David James which ended with Chopra stealing possession and passing the ball into the empty net.
| Bristol City | 0-3 | Ipswich Town |
| (HT 0-1) | ||
| Chopra 13 | ||
| Martin 51 | ||
| Chopra 60 |